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Tag: wedding
Cancelled Wedding Flowers Repurposed for Milestone
(WTSP Tampa Bay, 9.20.17)
Saturday, Sept. 9, was supposed to be the perfect day. Justin Murphy and Katherine McKoy planned a sandy-toes wedding on Clearwater Beach for months. Only, the ceremony never happened.
Hurricane Irma crossed over land as an enormous Category 4 storm. It made its way up the east coast of Florida the same weekend that Justin and Katherine were set to tie the knot. Nearly 150 guests were supposed to be in town to witness the ceremony. Justin alerted everyone on Wednesday, Sept. 6, that the wedding would have to be put off due to the nasty weather. Safety was the top priority.
The next morning, the couple went down to the Pinellas County Courthouse in suit and gown. Their marriage was made official, albeit without the beautiful sunset they’d hoped for. Then they remembered the flowers. Nearly $2,000 worth of beautifully arranged bouquets would go to waste because of Hurricane Irma’s timing. The Murphys were determined to find a good home for them.
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO STORY HERE
They settled on donating to Dunedin nonprofit, Random Acts of Flowers. The organization takes gently used flowers and distributes them around the community to places like nursing homes and hospitals in hopes that a few pretty petals may bring a smile to someone who needs them. In all, Justin and Katherine’s flowers were able to generate 170 bouquets for Random Acts of Flowers to hand out.
“We are so glad to see a tough and sad situation turned into a positive one,” Justin wrote in a blog post for the nonprofit.
The donation helped RAF hit a long-awaited milestone. The group was able to finally hit a the 50,000-donated bouquet mark they’d been striving towards for years.
The flowers were donated the next week. On September 18, RAF donated its 50,000th bouquet to residents at Florida Hospital North Pinellas who needed to be evacuated because of Hurricane Irma.
“I couldn’t imagine coming to the 50,000 mark in four short years,” said RAF’s Monica Kok.
“My grandmother is in the hospital and she wanted to thank all of you for the flowers that were given to her out of the kindness of your hearts!” said Julie, a family member of a woman who received flowers. “It really made her happy! All I wanted to see was a smile on her face and she smiled like a ray of sunshine!”
The glorious wedding that Justin and Katherine planned didn’t quite work out according to plan, but the kind gesture to donate their unused flowers brought some joy to a few strangers that may have needed it most. “It was bittersweet,” said Katherine. “I knew it was going to people who would greatly appreciate them but it was still hard to watch them go.
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO STORY HERE
© 2017 WTSP-TV
“We send you these flowers from our hearts”
A Hurricane Irma Wedding Story
Justin Murphy and his new bride, Katherine, had planned a glorious celebration of their love and life together, but Hurricane Irma had other plans for their oceanside wedding day. Read about how the couple’s resilience, love, and generosity touched hundreds of lives in the face of the storm –
Katherine and I started planning for our picture-perfect dream wedding well over a year ago – a sunset celebration on Clearwater Beach, FL on Saturday, September 9th. Just a week prior to our chosen date, we went into the Pinellas County Courthouse and obtained our marriage license. And, well into the week before Hurricane Irma hit, we were still hopeful that mother nature and the storm were going to make a turn in another direction. As the days passed, however, our concerns for the safety of our more than 150 guests from both near and far as well as local venue employees increased. The dangers became real and we started to consider our options to evacuate the Tampa area. On Wednesday, September 6th, our wedding event was officially cancelled. As challenging as that was, we kept our hopes up and our love remained stronger than ever.
Evacuation notifications began to spread, and we learned local government offices would be closed ahead of the storm, too. Thursday morning the 7th came and with heavy, yet strong hearts, we were determined to see our lifelong commitment to each other through. Katherine put on her beautiful wedding dress, did her hair and makeup while I found a suit stashed away in the closet. We met in the living room of our home and shared a few tears as we experienced our true “first look.” Meanwhile, my mother ran out and found a bouquet for Katherine to carry. It was emotional for us all, and yet, so beautiful. With my mother and our son as our witnesses, we were married on the afternoon of Thursday, September 7th. While it was not quite under the beautiful sunset of Clearwater Beach, it was a true testament of the strong love we share today and alwaysl.
Amid our own plans to evacuate the area, we thought about all the beautiful flowers that were prepared for our wedding day. We were not willing to let those flowers – a symbol of what was to be – go to waste. We asked our wedding planner, Barb Oehlerking from Artistry Designs to see how we could donate so many beautiful flowers. We were fortunate enough to find such a great organization and team in Random Acts of Flowers in Tampa. Through the efforts of Monica, Janette, and Barb, we coordinated and donated every flower we had planned to use on our wedding day.
We learned more than 170 bouquets were made and so many lives were touched. We are so glad to see a tough and sad situation turned into a positive one.
“My grandmother is in the hospital and she wanted to thank all of you for the flowers that were given to her out of the kindness of your hearts! It really made her happy! All I wanted to see was a smile on her face and she smiled like a ray of sunshine!” – Julie H., Family of Recipient
Our message to all recipients would be that we send you these flowers from our hearts. We hope they brought a ray of sunshine and hope into your lives. Knowing Random Acts of Flowers was able to step in and repurpose the flowers and bless others brings us both happiness and joy. We sent them to you in love and as a symbol of the love both Katherine and I share together today. We will welcome our son to this world in December, another joy we share together and look forward to. The picture-perfect dream wedding we set out for will occur sometime in 2018.
For now, we focus on getting our lives back together, sharing the moments and memories that surfaced during such a challenging time, and celebrating our special love that will endure for all time.
Sincerely, Justin Murphy
After All, To Love and Be Loved Is Life.
